


hold on, wait a minute!

by atlaswasatitan



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Genderbent Characters, M/M, Pining, Slice of Life, THE GAYS - Freeform, marriage??????, one rly old cat, past angst, teenagers having dorky crushes on each other, wonwoo’s nonbinary
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 17:05:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11422365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlaswasatitan/pseuds/atlaswasatitan
Summary: Hansol doesn't like boys, but there's one boy. Joshua's probably losing his marbles.





	hold on, wait a minute!

**Author's Note:**

> HI 
> 
> short fics are my thing....i enjoyed writing this a lot i hope it doesn't actually suck 
> 
> idk what else to put here.....pls enjoy

Something is wrong.

Something is very wrong, indeed.

 

  
Judging by the faint wailing noise Joshua hears upon Hansol’s arrival home, today was not a good one. However, he’s too preoccupied with cooking spaghetti dinner to check on her. Thankfully (or not? Joshua’s still figuring out if it’s normal for a teenage girl to confide as much in her kind-of brother as Hansol does with him), Hansol is happy to share.

Hansol establishes that she is, indeed, very miserable, by dragging herself into the kitchen and flinging herself onto the hardwood floor that Joshua took the time to mop a few hours earlier.

“Hey, kid,” he greets. Hansol makes a noise that vaguely resembles a dying goat.

“Uh. Okay. Wanna talk about it?”

“Something’s _wrong_ ,” Hansol mumbles, her frizzy dark-brown waves falling over her face and muffling her voice.

“How wrong? Like, police involvement wrong?” Joshua stirs the spaghetti sauce, acknowledging distantly in the back of his mind that Hansol is now using his leg to pull herself to her feet.

“No. But. Something is wrong.” Hansol peers around Joshua. “Spaghetti?”

“Uh-huh. Jeonghan and Soonyoung are coming over, I’m making enough food for all of us.”

“My favorite gays! Also. By “all of us” you’re factoring in the fact that I eat enough for three people alone, right? Also part two, Seungkwan’s coming over, her dad locked her out again.”

Joshua wants desperately to be mad, but Seungkwan’s mother has been glassy-eyed since Joshua was still a kid and her dad is the reason Seungkwan’s door hangs brokenly off its hinges, so he just sighs and says, “Do you wanna go to the store with me for more noodles and tomato sauce?”

“Can we stop at Starbucks? I need coffee. And to see if the cute barista is there.”

“I’m not made of money, make coffee here.”

“I have cash from babysitting for Mrs. Aguilar, _please_?” Hansol pouts, widening her eyes at Joshua until he gives in.

“Okay, fine, stop looking at me like that,” Joshua waves her off, turning the stove off and putting lids on all the pots. “Let me put my shoes on and we’ll go.”

“Thanks. Are you gonna go with your grandma apron on?” Hansol points out.

Joshua pauses, looking down at his attire. He’d forgotten he was even wearing the pink apron, complete with complementary lime green polka dots.

“Maybe I was,” he sticks his nose up in an attempt to save his dignity, taking the apron off and hanging it on the hook next to the one that holds his car keys. Which are missing.

“Can I drive?” Hansol holds up Joshua’s dumb puffball keychain, jingling the keys.

“ _No_.”

“Why noooot?” she whines, snatching the keys out of reach when Joshua reaches for them. “I have my license!”

“Yeah, I found it in the dryer today.”

“So that’s where it wen–hey! Don’t change the subject! I’m a good driver!”

“I had to get my tires realigned last time you drove my car!”

“Uh, that’s because you always hit the curb turning into the driveway,” Hansol crosses her arms. Joshua narrows his eyes.

“Shut up. You can drive to Starbucks and that’s it, I’m driving the rest of the way.”

Hansol grins, bouncing in place excitedly. “You’re the best.”

“You’re only saying that because I let you do anything you want,” mumbles Joshua, pulling his shoes on and following Hansol out the front door.

“Also because you’re a pretty cool dude and I appreciate you, but whatever you say.” Hansol opens the driver’s side door of Joshua’s dented 2008 Lexus. (It may or may not be Hansol’s fault that it’s dented, but Joshua is still oblivious to that and she plans on keeping it that way.)

Joshua gets into the passenger side, buckling his seatbelt and making sure Hansol does the same before she starts the car.

“So are you gonna tell me what’s wrong?” Joshua asks as Hansol backs out of the driveway and turns in the direction of the Starbucks. It’s in the opposite direction of the store, and Joshua technically doesn't really have the gas money for that, but it’s fine.

“Oh. Uh. There’s a person.”

“Tell me about her,” Joshua mumbles, taking out his phone. What Hansol says next makes him stop short and fuck up the streak he had on Piano Tiles 4.

“It’s a he.”

Joshua widens his eyes a little, but he doesn’t look at Hansol. It makes her nervous when she’s driving. So, he keeps his eyes trained on his phone screen.

“I thought you were gay.”

“News flash, I did too.”

“Ha, ha, I get it, you’re a smartass. Tell me about the boy.”

Hansol pulls a face, but she keeps talking. “His name’s Xu Minghao and we have Spanish and Phys Ed together and he has cool earrings and his voice is really nice to listen to and he doesn’t think I’m weird for not being like most of the girls here. Which, like, I’ll never care what any teenage boy I go to school with thinks of me, but it’s nice for anyone at all to consider me a _person_ instead of the fuckin’....token dyke friend. Anyways. We skateboard together after school sometimes, and he thinks it’s cool I can do so many tricks. He’s still working on his kickflip.”

Joshua hums. To anyone else, it would seem like he’s tuning Hansol out, but she knows better.

“And he invited me over so we can play on his Ps4 together,” Hansol grins.

“Awwww, you guys are all buddy-buddy, aren’t you?”

“Wait, where’s the _Hansol Veronica Choi I don’t want you running around with any dumb boys_ speech?”

“Uh, I don’t wanna hurt your delicate little feelings or anything, but a speech like that requires me to care more about your love life than I do,” Joshua shrugs as Hansol pulls into the Starbucks parking lot and parks – a little crookedly, sure, but it’s fine.

“That’s the way I like it,” Hansol beams, “do you want anything?” she asks as she kills the ignition and unbuckles her seatbelt.

“Will you get me a strawberry refresher? I can give you my card.”

“No, Mr. I’m-not-made-of-money, I got it. Grande?” Hansol opens the door, climbing out of the car.

“Uh-huh,” Joshua grins at her. “Thanks.”

“You got it,” Hansol snaps finger guns at him before closing the door and running into the coffee shop.

Hansol isn’t a bad kid at all, Joshua thinks as he clumsily clamors over the armrest and into the driver’s seat. All things considered, she has her shit together.

All things being the fact that she and Joshua aren’t even related by blood but they were thrust into each other’s lives two years ago, when both of their parents died leaving a July fourth party. There had been so many warnings to watch for drunk drivers, but not enough warnings to those who chose to drive drunk, it seemed.

Joshua’s dad had been driving. It was a three-car pileup. Eight people total, and only two survived. Joshua couldn’t stop apologizing at every funeral he attended. Sorry to Hansol that her parents were gone, sorry to his own parents for not saving them somehow, sorry for the holes blasted through the other families because of the thoughtlessness of his own.

Especially sorry to the father weeping as his baby and wife were laid to rest together.

Ironically enough, Joshua’s parents were Hansol’s godparents and vice versa, if anything were ever to happen to either family. Hansol was an only daughter, her parents only children as well, her grandparents long since deceased. Straight out of some tragic romantic novel, right?

No.

Joshua was eighteen. He was close enough to kin, so without considering what exactly he was getting himself into, he chose to adopt Hansol rather than put a fifteen year-old girl into the system, the one she’d likely age out of before any family chose her over some chubby-cheeked baby. Joshua definitely should’ve thought it over.

It was like the rug had been torn out from under him, suddenly having a whole other _human_ depend on him. The last living thing Joshua had any responsibility for was the succulent plant on his windowsill in his junior year of high school.

Hansol looked after herself, though. She got a job and did what she could to contribute, even if it was just a couple of dollars to top off the rent when Joshua’s car and all the couch cushions had been searched clean of loose change.

Joshua would never make Hansol split the rent or any bills. Not then, and not now. It’s his job, he’s an adult and she’s young. She deserves proper youthhood, even if it means she’s oblivious to Joshua skipping meals to afford her school lunches, or showering at his boyfriend’s to avoid running up the water bill.

All things considered, Hansol has her shit together.

And speaking of Joshua’s boyfriend, he’s calling.

“Hey,” Joshua answers, huffing with the exertion of changing seats, before he collects himself. “God. Sorry. I sounded like a Sasquatch there. I had to get into the front seat.”

“From?” Junhui sounds puzzled, but at this point, Joshua’s used to Junhui being lost on him.

“Uh. The passenger seat. I let Hansol drive.”

“Are you guys wrecked? If so, why did you call me and not 911? And why would you need to get in the front seat?”

“Jun!” Joshua’s voice borders on whiny, but he’s giggling, and he can only imagine Junhui’s dumb grin, practically splitting his pretty face in half.

“We have to go to the store for more noodles and tomato sauce for dinner, which by the way you’re invited to since I guess it’s just a big fuckin’ spaghetti party because Hansol eats like a mammoth and she invited a friend and I didn’t know before but Jeonghan and Soonyoung are coming too, so like. Spaghetti party. You’re invited. That was the point of that.” Joshua messes with the cheesy steering wheel cover he has. His mother got it for him. It’s a little worn, but he won’t take it off until it’s falling apart.

“You know, sometimes I think you have high-functioning anxiety.” Junhui clears his throat.

“Eh. Probably. I’m just kind of ignoring it.” Joshua shrugs his shoulders involuntarily. It’s just part of who he is; he’s truly the embodiment of just a shrug, just an unremarkable human – like a book you pick up and put back down after the first chapter because those first ten pages or so couldn’t hook you in for the entirety of the story.

(Of course, if you were to ask anyone who knows Joshua if they agree with this, you’d be met with varying degrees of outrage, or even sadness, at the very _suggestion_. Joshua is an ordinary boy who is doing his very best in a life that’s too extraordinary for him to comprehend.)

Joshua realizes he’s spaced out, watching water droplets roll off the bushes his car is parked in front of before then realizing _wait, it rained?_ and he startles a little when Junhui’s voice comes through clearly, like the radio station finally switched from grating static.

“Hey–Jun–baby I’m really sorry I love you lots but I totally zoned out and accidentally wasn’t listening for however long you’ve been talking.”

Junhui pauses for just a moment, and Josh is on the verge of panicking, but then he hears Junhui’s dorky giggle and before Joshua knows it he’s smiling again, _beaming_.

“Have you been sleeping enough? You’re a little out of it.” Junhui’s tone is teasing, but Joshua can only imagine the way his brows knit together when he’s worried, the way his shoulders tense forward nervously.

“Yeah, definitely,” Joshua affirms. “But this spaghetti party is gonna be my first full meal since like, the five-dollar footlong I had for lunch yesterday.”

“ _Josh_.”

“Sorry! I just forget.” Joshua sighs, “Don’t worry. You can come over tonight and make sure I eat plenty of spaghetti. Then tuck me and my noodle carb baby into bed so I can sleep for the next fourteen hours.”

“Sounds like my kinda Friday night. _However_ , what I was saying before is that I’m babysitting my roommate's weird eighteen year-old cat and if I were to come for the spaghetti party I’d have to bring the fossil and all his fossil-y preservative things too.”

Joshua considera this for a moment. “Will the fossil poop or puke on my floors? I mopped today.”

“Honestly, he’ll probably just nap. He’s like. Really fuckin’ old. I’m looking at him now, he’s all scruffy and sad. Is it cruel to keep an animal like a cat alive this long? Or is he, like, still chugging along on his own free will?”

“Good question.” Joshua unlocks the doors upon noticing Hansol approaching the car, cups in hand, in the rearview mirror. She climbs into the passenger side, setting Joshua’s drink in the cupholder beside the stickshift. Hansol meets Joshua’s eyes, mouthing, ‘ _Who are you talking to?’_

“Jun,” he whispers back, starting the car and realizing he hasn’t been listening to Junhui. Again.

“Uh–babe–”

“Did you zone out again?” Junhui asks, the smile evident in his voice.

“Yes. I’m the worst boyfriend ever.” Joshua replies. “Hang on, I gotta drive, I’m putting you on speaker. Don’t say anything that can potentially scar Hansol.”

“You got it,” Junhui answers. Joshua hits the speaker button, setting his phone on the armrest between him and Hansol and putting both hands on the steering wheel, driving in the direction of the grocery store.

“Hey, Jun,” Hansol says, chewing on the end of the stir stick she got for her coffee; she drinks it blacker than Joshua does, almost no milk or creamer, but the amount of sugar she puts in it could probably give a killer whale diabetes.

“Hey,” Junhui greets easily. “I’m catsitting the most ancient cat literally ever and you get to meet him tonight.”

“Really?” Hansol grins. “How ancient are we talking?”

“Like, a year older than you. Which is ancient in cat years.”

“Cat years..” Hansol repeats, staring off into the distance. God only knows what that could’ve reminded her of.

“Nice. I don’t have anything as interesting as a cat that’s technically a legal adult, but Seungkwan’s coming over, and she’s pretty cool, so.” Hansol shrugs and sips her coffee.

“How is Seungkwan?” Junhui asks. His tone is light, but it’s no secret they all worry about Hansol’s best friend.

“Uh, she could be better. It’ll be fine though. She might have to spend the night,” Hansol glances towards Joshua, who just nods, waving his hand dismissively. “But yeah. It’ll be okay.”

“Good. Oh, _shit_ , nice!” Junhui exclaims, “I just realized I don’t work at Taco Hell again until Sunday. That means I’m free tomorrow, Josh, we could walk around the city or something.”

“If you hate it so much, why do you still work at Taco Hell?” Joshua chuckles.

“Because being a teacher’s aid during the week alone doesn’t pay my bills.”

“Touché,” Joshua pulls into the grocery store parking lot, finding a spot near the front and parking there. He kills the ignition and picks up his phone up, turning the speaker off and putting it back to his ear. With his other hand, he grabs his drink and car keys, getting out of his car and walking towards the store with Hansol following.

“But, I got a offer from the principal of the school where I help teachers. He rents out homes and shit, and he said if I went one day every week to help the landscape guys, I could pull in a little extra money. It’s just like, mowing the lawns and weed whacking and shit, so I said yeah.” Junhui’s moving around on the other end; Joshua can hear shuffling, most likely Junhui’s absentminded habit of pacing.

“That’s good,” Joshua grabs a basket from the stack by the sliding doors, that weird grocery store smell washing over him as he walks into the Harris Teeter which is surprisingly busy for a Friday afternoon.

“Hey,” Joshua holds his phone away from his mouth, nudging Hansol. “Can you get the noodles? I’ll get the sauce. Choose a couple two-liters of soda or whatever too, since we’ll have more company than I thought.”

Hansol looks sheepish, but she grins and nods, walking in the direction of the aisle that holds all the boxes of dry pasta. Joshua wanders in the other direction, still chattering away on the phone with Junhui.

Hansol’s glad Josh is happy. Junhui, while a little spacey at times, is good for him. (Besides, Josh is very spacey all the time, so it’s best that one of them has _some_ sense.) Hansol’s mostly glad Joshua still has a life outside of looking after her. Hansol can’t feel bad that she ended up in Joshua’s life; some things are out of your control, sometimes. But Joshua has managed, even if it’s just barely. He’s always made it work, and Hansol admires him for it.

Hansol also appreciates that Joshua gives her space. Maybe he understands because he’s young too; after all, they celebrated his twentieth birthday in December, and Hansol’s seventeenth two months later. Either way, Joshua doesn’t try to force his way into Hansol’s life where she doesn’t want him, and Hansol leaves Joshua alone when he needs it.

Wait a minute. That laugh sounds familiar. Hansol’s so busy thinking about it, she doesn’t pay attention to where she’s going until she rounds the corner to the drink aisle, boxes of spaghetti noodles already tucked under one arm, and runs directly into Xu Minghao himself.

“Aw, fuck me!” Hansol yelps as her coffee spills all over both of them. A mom passing by with her child in tow glares, but Minghao just laughs.

“Oh, gosh,” he mumbles, looking at his own shirt, then Hansol’s. “It’s a bloodbath.”

“This is my favorite freaking shirt! I paid thirty dollars for it,” Hansol groans, plucking at her (now stained) white Thrasher tee.

“Maybe that’s what you get for paying thirty dollars for a t-shirt.” Kim Mingyu appears beside Minghao, at least a head taller and holding armfuls of snack foods.

“Touché,” Hansol nods. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Oh, Mingyu’s crush is having kushfest at her place, so we’re loading up on food.” Minghao beams. Mingyu elbows him.

“Wonwoo isn’t my crush! I’m pretty sure Wonwoo’s into girls, Hao.”

“Okay, whatever.” Minghao rolls his eyes. Mingyu makes a face, but he grins toothily at Hansol.

“You’re invited, if you wanna come. We’re gonna get blitzed and watch claymation movies.”

Hansol shrugs one shoulder. “I wish I could, dude. That sounds sick. But I already have a dope spaghetti party happening tonight, so my schedule’s full. Maybe I could convince Joshua to let me use his car and bring you guys some spaghetti.”

“Could you?” Minghao widens his eyes, grin starting to spread across his pointed face.

“Probably. I’ll keep you updated,” Hansol steps out of the way as a store worker comes to mop up the spilled coffee.

“Oh, uh, here. ‘cause your shirt’s all stained,” Minghao shrugs off the red and black flannel he’s wearing, leaving him in a sleeveless black shirt. He steps closer to Hansol as she takes it, and she smells his nice clean boy smell, and it makes her cheeks flush.

“Oh, there you are,” Joshua sighs from a little bit behind Hansol. She glances over her shoulder at him, unsure if she’s thankful for the interruption or not.

“What did you do, bud?” laughs Joshua, seeing the spilled coffee that’s currently being mopped up.

“I won the Nobel Prize for curing cancer–Josh, you know exactly what my clumsy ass did.”

“I know, you’re just fun to make fun of. Who’s your friend?”

Hansol threatens Joshua certain death with her eyes as she gestures to Minghao. “Joshua, Minghao, Minghao, Joshua. Joshua’s my older brother, please disregard every dorky thing he says.”

Minghao’s sleepy brown eyes glow with affection when he quirks an eyebrow at Hansol, flashing his teeth in a big smile. “He doesn’t _seem_ that dorky.”

“Please, I don’t need any more of my friends liking him more than me,” groans Hansol. Minghao giggles, he freaking _giggles_ , and waves a hand dismissively. “Nah, you’ll always be my favorite. I need someone to teach me all those cool skate tricks, right?”

“Right,” Hansol grins.

“Have fun at the spaghetti party, I’ll snap you or something,” Minghao backs up as Mingyu calls for him to _hurry his needly ass up we gotta go._

“He just doesn’t wanna be late to see his _cruuuuush_ ,” Minghao sing-songs, winking at Hansol playfully before turning around and jogging to catch up with Mingyu.

Hansol waits until they’re completely gone to let out the most stereotypical lovesick sigh ever, turning and leaning her head on Joshua’s shoulder. “Oh God. I like him so _fricking_ much.”

“I think he likes you too,” Joshua laughs, patting Hansol’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

“Noooooo,” Hansol shakes her head, pulling away from Joshua and walking down the soda aisle to _finally_ get what she meant to after being distracted.

“We’re just friends,” Hansol dumps the boxes of noodles and two bottles of soda (Pepsi and Coke, which Joshua already knows she’s gonna serve everyone without telling which is which, because she likes anarchy) into the basket Joshua’s holding. Two jars of pasta sauce are already in there.

“Uh, he gave you his jacket.”

“It’s a flannel, Josh. Get with the times, that’s not the same level.”

“Oh, my bad,” Joshua laughs, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. Hansol walks beside him to the self-checkout, raking her fingers through her long waves lazily.

“What if he did like you, though?” Joshua asks as he scans all their stuff, handing it to Hansol to put into bags.

“I dunno,” she shrugs, glancing over at Joshua. “I don’t know how to date boys.”

“Neither do I.”

“You have a boyfriend.”

“Your point?”

 

 

  
“It smells great in here,” Junhui walks in, holding a pet carrier in one hand.

“Do you have the ancient cat?” Hansol asks excitedly from where she’s perched on the kitchen counter beside the stove, where Joshua’s boiling water for the noodles.

“I do. His name is Genghis Khan,” Junhui sets the carrier down and opens the door, gently taking out what is probably the most pitiful cat Joshua’s ever seen.

“Amazing,” Hansol laughs.

“If you’re gonna hold the ancient cat, do it in the living room, Jeonghan will have a fucking conniption if there’s cat hair in her spaghetti, and frankly, I will too.” Joshua asserts.

“Yeah, yeah,” Hansol hops down from the counter, walking over to meet Junhui. Genghis Khan The Cat wheezes out a _meow_ when she gently scratches under his chin. Junhui lets her hold the cat, and she wanders to the living room, happy.

Junhui walks over to the sink, washing the old cat smell off his hands before coming to kiss Joshua’s cheek from behind, arms winding around the shorter’s middle.

“Hey,” Joshua mumbles, allowing a small smile.

“Hi,” Junhui squeezes Josh gently, grinning when the elder turns his head to look at Junhui.

“Your day been okay?” Joshua asks as he dumps the pasta noodles into the boiling water, groaning quietly when he spills a few.

“Nice. And it was alright. One of the kids in the kindergarten class I aid didn’t take her medication this morning, and during nap time she ran down the hall taking off all her clothes, so the teachers and I had to deal with...that.”

Joshua laughs aloud, tipping his head back onto Junhui’s shoulder. “Oh, God. Kids are wild.”

“Right? I can’t wait to deal with my own weird kids,” Junhui chuckles. Joshua reaches back to pinch his cheeks with one hand, still smiling.

“Gimme a kiss,” Junhui complains. “I haven’t seen you all day.”

Joshua rolls his eyes but turns to kiss the younger, standing on his tiptoes to reach Junhui better. Junhui keeps his hands on Joshua’s hips, pulls the elder closer. It’s gentle, wanting nothing more than the contact they have now, chest to chest, Junhui’s messy hair tickling Joshua’s cheek as they kiss.

“Hey, better family.” Seungkwan announces upon walking into the house through the back door. She has to sneak in, seeing as her father watches her every move.

Joshua pulls back from Junhui to greet her. Seungkwan always smells like secondhand smoke, and her eyes are sad, but she still smiles and hugs him tightly. She does the same with Junhui.

“Hey, kid. You been alright?” Joshua asks, smiling at Seungkwan. Hansol appears by the counter, still holding Genghis Khan The Cat.

“Working on it,” is Seungkwan’s answer. Then she looks at the cat. “What in the hell is _that_?”

“Don’t hurt his feelings!” whines Hansol, gently covering Genghis Khan’s ears as if he isn’t already deaf.

“That is the ancient cat my roommate has me babysitting while he visits his family,” Junhui informs, laughing.

“Hey, try this and tell me if it tastes like shit,” Joshua holds a spoonful of spaghetti sauce to Junhui’s mouth. Junhui crinkles his nose after eating it, shrugging. “Put a little more brown sugar ‘n balsamic in it. Like, two spoonfuls of each.”

“Thank youuu,” Joshua sing-songs, turning back to the stove.

“You’re welcome,” Junhui hums back, distracted by his phone buzzing. He looks at the screen, letting it ring for at least ten seconds before answering.

“Hi. What? No! I totally was not gonna ignore your call.” Junhui spazzes slightly, clearly wanting to be doing anything but talking to whomever is on the other end of this phone call.

“No, your freaking cat is not dead. I’m at a spaghetti party, he's gonna get lost in the sauce,” Junhui grins. “Oh my God, Jihoon, it’s a joke, ‘m not gonna kill your fucking cat with spaghetti. However, I am holding Genghis Khan hostage until you fork over your half of the water bill.”

After roughly ten more seconds, Junhui sets his phone on the counter, putting it on speaker. “You’re going on speaker, please say something embarrassing so I can ridicule you in front of all three of my friends.”

“You’re really sad, Jun.” A quiet, monotone voice says through the speakers.

“What’s that? Genghis, you want some spaghetti?” Junhui coos exaggeratedly.

“If you feed my cat spaghetti and he keels over, I will never forgive you.”

“That’s been established. When are you coming back? Genghis Khan misses you giving him tongue baths. He cries so much.”

“Ha, ha. You’re disgusting.”

“I don’t _lick_ _my_ _cat_.”

“Neither do I!”

“God, he’s so easy,” mumbles Junhui, chuckling. “Okay Jihoon I’m hanging up now your cat is alive I’ll update you on that in an hour goodbye now.”

“Wait, I–”

Junhui hits the end button, shoving his cell back into his pocket. “You guys just got a taste of my...lovely roommate, Jihoon. He’s like, five foot three and once threatened to kill me for drinking his hazelnut coffee.”

“Sounds like a delight to be around. Does he really give his cat tongue baths?” Hansol grins.

“I wish. But, no. If he did I definitely would’ve recorded it and shown it to you guys and every other person I’m acquainted with. Lee Jihoon, the guy that licks his cat.” Junhui snorts.

“You’re so mean,” Joshua hugs Junhui from behind, resting his forehead on the space between Junhui’s shoulder blades.

“I’m roommates with the devil!” Junhui whines. “I’m allowed to be mean.”

“Incorrect, that title is mine and mine only,” Jeonghan deadpans as she walks through the front door, Soonyoung following clumsily. They’re odd together, mismatched, but cute all the same. Jeonghan is what Hansol jokes is “straight-passing”; beautiful, always well-dressed, with hair that’s long and _clearly_ well cared-for, and mean as a viper. And really, she _was_ straight until Soonyoung came along, piercing Jeonghan’s belly button and flirting with her the whole time.

Soonyoung has a ring through her septum and studs all up her right ear, pressed flowers inlaid in her large glass gauges. She’s so gay, she has an undercut, patterns shaved into it and all. And she beams at Jeonghan, holding the elder’s hand as they walk into Joshua’s kitchen.

“I can’t really argue with that one,” Junhui shrugs his shoulders. Once, millions and billions of years ago (really, it was only four years), he and Jeonghan had a _thing_. It ended only a _tad_ brutally, with Jeonghan dumping a carton of milk over poor little fifteen year-old's Junhui’s head and calling him an asshole for ignoring her in front of the entire school cafeteria. In reality Junhui had gotten grounded and didn’t have his phone, but hey, forgive and forget. So, Jeonghan greets Junhui with a hug and a kiss on the cheek as she does everyone else, and Junhui gives a strand of her silky hair a teasing tug like he always does.

“Hi my children, how are you?” Jeonghan hugs Hansol and Seungkwan at the same time.

“My face is in your boobs right now so honestly everything is great,” Hansol answers.

“Just like your mother. Josh, can you believe I raised her?” Jeonghan jokes, tweaking Hansol’s nose and kissing the top of Seungkwan’s head before she resumes clinging to Soonyoung, who grins crookedly and high fives everyone hello with the hand that isn’t resting on Jeonghan’s waist.

“Mhm,” Joshua answers distractedly, busy with straining the cooked noodles.

“I got it, babe,” Junhui nudges Joshua out of the way, coaxing him with kisses on the cheek until Joshua finally gives up and turns to socialize instead.

“You look like shit. When’s the last time you ate something?” Jeonghan crosses her arms, jutting her hip out in a pose that’s so very _Jeonghan_.

“Why is everyone bothering me about that? I’m fine!” Joshua whines.

“False,” Junhui chimes from the sink. Joshua offhandedly whacks him on the ass. “Shut up.”

“Hey! Watch it, I’m delicate!” Junhui laughs, moving over to the cabinets to get plates out for everyone.

“You guys are gross,” Hansol remarks, putting Genghis Khan The Cat back in his carrier and going to the bathroom with Seungkwan so they can wash their hands.

Jeonghan scoffs. “Teenagers. Anyways, Seungcheol and what’stheirface are getting serious now. I can’t remember their name though.”

“Me neither,” Soonyoung mumbles, screwing her face up in thought. “Oh! Wonwoo. It’s Wonwoo, my sweet child.”

Jeonghan kisses Soonyoung on the cheek before resuming, “Also, you better be glad we came. I skipped smoking the Devil’s lettuce for spaghetti.”

“Your company is always appreciated in this household, Jeonghan,” Joshua echoes what his mother always said when Jeonghan came to hang out; she _hated_ Jeonghan.

“I know,” Jeonghan responds, just as she always would to Mrs. Hong. Junhui hands her and Soonyoung plates, pressing one into Joshua’s hands as well.

“Come get food,” he calls to Hansol and Seungkwan, who have retired to the dining table, sitting together looking at something on the former’s phone.

“Stop looking after my kids better than I do,” Joshua whines.

“Aw, I’m your kid?” Seungkwan gleams at Joshua as she makes her way to the kitchen to fix a plate. Hansol follows behind, the faraway look in her eyes indicating that she either has a big question coming or she’s thinking about dinosaurs.

“Do you think all the dinosaurs that weren’t carnivores knew they were inventing veganism?”

Somehow, it was both.

Joshua gawps at Hansol, and she looks around at everyone else, all of which are wearing similar expressions to Josh’s.

“What?” Hansol asks. Seungkwan pulls her into a hug, tenderly stroking her hair, “Oh, honey..”

“I just have lots of questions about dinosaurs..” mumbles Hansol.

“I know you do,” Seungkwan nods. “How about spaghetti, though?”

 

  
“Jeonghan, I gotta ask you something.”

Jeonghan pauses in feeding Soonyoung a forkful of spaghetti, her expression somewhere between a deer in headlights and a big cat getting ready to pounce on its prey. “...yes?”

“How do you know if a boy likes you?” Hansol leans her cheek in her palm, looking glum.

“I don’t know. I’m gay.”

“Before Soonyoung you swallowed dick like it was a sport. You gotta know _something_.”

Junhui chokes on his food and promptly starts coughing between stifled guffawing, and Jeonghan shrieks in disbelief while Soonyoung plain cackles, thumping her fist gently on the table.

“You little–” Jeonghan drops her jaw in a good impression of shock, placing a hand over her heart. “I’ve never felt so fucking _attacked_.”

“Help me!” Hansol half laughs, half whines.

“I blame you for her knowledge of my hetero past!” Jeonghan throws her crumpled-up napkin at Joshua, who widens his eyes in innocence.

“It wasn’t a secret in the first place!”

Jeonghan sinks down in her chair as if she’s been shot, releasing a dramatic wail. “I can’t _believe_ you all. Also, Soonyoung, fuck you for laughing at this.”

“I’m so sorry,” Soonyoung hiccups, still in hysterics. Jeonghan sits back in her chair, glowering.

“Awww, no,” Soonyoung leans over to kiss Jeonghan’s cheek, her giggles finally fading. “We love you, messy hetero past and all.”

“I just wanna forget that dark time in my life!” Jeonghan bites back a smile as she peers into Soonyoung’s eyes, trying her hardest to still look mad.

“Okay, we’ll leave it in the past. Hansol, no more messy hetero receipts on Jeonghan, messy gay receipts only,” Soonyoung winks at the younger, who, around a mouthful of spaghetti, answers,

“You sure? I have _plenty_ of those, too.”

“Uh, okay, well, if you talk with your mouth full all the time, no boy is gonna like you. That’s tip number one,” Jeonghan cuts in, quirking an eyebrow at Hansol.

“Ah, but you misunderstood me,” Hansol laughs. “I didn’t ask how to get a boy to like me, I comfortably and proudly repulse every straight teenage male in my life. I asked you how to tell if a boy likes you. Like, on his own accord. Even in spite of all your humanness. Because he’s cool.”

“Why? Is there a boy I don’t know about?” Jeonghan interrogates.

“She told me before you!” Joshua realizes, laughing. Jeonghan _hates_ not being the first to know about _everything_ , being a control freak and all.

“ _What_?” Jeonghan hisses, shooting Hansol a dangerous look.

“I didn’t think it would be such a big deal! He’s just a boy!” Hansol widens her eyes.

“But you’re _gay_!” Jeonghan shakes her head slightly, hair rippling with the movement. “What boy is worth your neverending _loathing_ for all men ever?”

“His name is Xu Minghao,” Hansol answers meekly. Jeonghan relents almost immediately, her stance loosening.

“Tell me about him,” Jeonghan leans her chin in her palm, tapping the nails of her other hand on the table.

“That’s a lot of pressure.” Hansol peers around the table, grimacing.

“Would holding Genghis Khan make you feel better?” Junhui supplies from where he’s trying to make sure Joshua doesn’t accidentally inhale his spaghetti with how fast he’s eating.

“Actually, yes.” Hansol walks to the living room, returning moments later with Genghis Khan The Cat curled up in her arms. “Okay, so. His name’s Xu Minghao and he’s a senior so one year above me, but we have Phys Ed and Spanish class together and he’s really cool and nice and stuff..”

Hansol trails off shyly, silently scratching behind the cat’s ears for a good fifteen seconds before resuming, “We skateboard together after school and he kinda sucks at it so I’m gonna teach him cool tricks and stuff and he gave me his flannel because I spilled my fricking coffee all over both of us today, oh yeah Josh met him already so I’m glad that’s out of the way.”

“He was nice,” Joshua offers.

“Wait, Minghao as in Mingyu’s Minghao? And Mingyu as in Wonwoo’s Mingyu who isn’t really their Mingyu but they’re friends or whatever?” Soonyoung asks. No one else deciphered what exactly that meant, but Jeonghan considers it for only a moment before answering, “Yeah, must be.”

“Oh, cool!”

“You know Mingyu?” Hansol asks.

“Well, through our friend. Wonwoo.”

“Wait, that’s my cute barista!”

“Ah, they are a cute barista, the needly little dork.” Soonyoung sighs fondly. “Anyways, Wonwoo and Choi Seungcheol are now a thing. Josh, you must’ve known her, right? You graduated together.”

Choi Seungcheol. Suddenly, Josh is hit with memories from his high school days, specifically, subtle Tory Burch perfume and cheering at volleyball games and organizing a school fundraiser for God knows what. Seungcheol was what Joshua probably would’ve been, had he not lost his whole family and adopted a person he literally still went to school with halfway through his senior year. Choi Seungcheol was captain of the volleyball team, which won nearly every game they competed in and went to nationals every year, she was on student council, she helped everyone. No one ever had something rude to say about Seungcheol.

Joshua is also hit with the memory of graduation, Seungcheol standing up there to give a speech, because the principal considered her a model student, someone their school board thought could leave a good impression on the parents coming to watch their mediocre kids walk across the stage to get their diplomas.The memory of her crumpling up the papers waiting for her at the podium and instead speaking clearly, organically into the microphone, “There have been people who lost so much this year. I want us all to give a moment of silence for Joshua Hong, another amazing member of this year’s graduating class, for experiencing a goddamn _tragedy_ and still taking on the weight of the world for someone he loves, and graduating _high_ _school_ on top of it,” she’d paused, then, eyes glittering as they searched the wordless crowd for Joshua, “that takes determination, bravery, and so much strength, and he did it on his own. Now, our lovely principal Mrs. Francher is giving me kind of a nasty look, so I should probably resume the speech I originally planned, but thank you for your time.”

Joshua’s pulled from the final memory of finding her in the crowd of people afterwards, hugging her with silent tears streaming down his cheeks, by Junhui waving a hand in front of his face.

“Earth to Josh,” Junhui’s saying. “You spaced for a moment there.”

“Sorry,” mumbles Joshua. “Yeah, I know her.”

“I thought so. Anyways, Wonwoo’s this kid Jun and I graduated with–”

“Was Wonwoo the one that wore weed socks and dropped their diploma right after they got it?” Junhui asks.

“That very one. I still have the video. But as I was saying, Wonwoo’s nerdy little ass met Seungcheol at the animal shelter, apparently Seungcheol was volunteering and Wonwoo was too and they bonded over baby pigs.” Soonyoung takes another bite of spaghetti. “And, I know Mingyu because he’s got the biggest crush on Wonwoo and they think it’s kinda cute but mostly funny.”

Hansol’s phone buzzes, then, and she does a double take after glancing at the screen. It’s Minghao, blowing up her Snapchat with notifications.

“Is he okay?” Seungkwan laughs, peering over Hansol’s shoulder as the other unlocks her phone, checking what Minghao sent her.

  
**fry** **snake** : H

 **fry** **snake** : THE

 **fry** **snake** : PLEASE CALL ME I

 **fry** **snake** : xxx-xxx-xxxx

  
“Well, call him!” Seungkwan elbows Hansol, grinning.

“Call who?” Joshua and Jeonghan ask at the same time, looking over at Hansol.

“The boy? I forgot his name already, sorry,” Jeonghan examines her split ends.

“Yeah, it’s Minghao. One sec,” Hansol excuses herself from the table, pulling Seungkwan with her to the living room.

“Hansol!” Minghao exclaims as soon as he answers his phone. “I’m scarred I’m scarred I'm so scarred–”

“What happened? Are you okay?” Hansol laughs.

“ _No_! So we went to get snacks for kushfest and Wonwoo told us to just let ourselves back in when we got back but we got back too soon and walked in on Wonwoo _eating out my old math tutor–”_

“Did it happen to be Choi Seungcheol?”

“Don’t, I can’t think about her ever again!” Minghao groans. In the background, Hansol thinks she can hear Mingyu’s muffled yelling.

“Where are you now?” Hansol stifles her giggles.

“Uh, like, as we speak? This weird parking garage at Wonwoo’s apartment complex. Because I still wanna smoke weed, and Wonwoo told us to give them like ten more minutes. So I’m exploring– _aaaah Jesus that’s a big spider!_ Mingyu. Kill it. _Mingyu kill it kill it kill it kill it before it kills us you fucking pool noodle–”_

“It isn’t even moving, let it live!” Mingyu responds distantly.

“Hansol it’s a really big spider,” whines Minghao. “Save me.”

“Do you still want me to bring you spaghetti?” giggles Hansol. There’s a gasp on the other end, then Minghao answers, “Oh my God, I forgot about the spaghetti. Will your brother let you?”

“Yeah, probably. Josh!” Hansol holds her phone away from her ear, peering around the wall separating the living room from the dining room. Joshua glances up, cheeks full of spaghetti.

“Can I borrow your car to bring my friends some spaghetti?” Hansol sends him her brightest smile, bouncing on her toes.

Joshua hesitates, but after a moment, he sighs. “Yeah, but Jeonghan and Soonyoung have to go with you. I would, but I don’t feel like it.”

“That’s fine. Thank you, you’re the best,” Hansol runs over to hug him before holding her phone between her ear and shoulder once more.

“Okay, we’re bringing spaghetti,” she reassures Minghao.

“Really?”

“Uh-huh. Send me the address,” Hansol grins, already getting out a container to put some noodles and spaghetti sauce in. She puts generous helpings of both, seeing as they have plenty to share.

“Okay,” Minghao hiccups out another laugh, “seeya in a few.”

The call ends, and a moment later Hansol’s phone dings, Minghao having texted her the address.

“Okay, let’s go!” Hansol announces. Jeonghan and Soonyoung set their empty plates in the kitchen sink before following Hansol and Seungkwan out to the car.

 

  
“Oh thank God,” Minghao jumps up from the curb, actually running over to meet Hansol as she climbs out of the car, hugging the younger around the waist. “I’m starving. And still scarred.”

“I can fix the starving part,” Hansol blushes furiously, holding up a Tupperware container.

“You deserve an award,” Minghao grins, stepping back and scrubbing at the back of his neck with his hand.

“I agree. Driving with that in the car is a trip,” Hansol points towards Jeonghan, who’s gotten out of the car and is approaching them at a leisurely pace, Soonyoung following cheerfully.

“What are you saying about me?” Jeonghan hip-bumps Hansol as she reaches them, smirking.

“That you’re the best aunt ever,” Hansol responds.

Jeonghan snorts, “Joshua Hong would rather be caught _dead_ than calling _me_ his _sister_. I appreciate the sentiment, though. Who’s this?”

“Xu Minghao,” Minghao offers his hand to Jeonghan, and Hansol’s thankful he’s mostly oblivious to Jeonghan’s snake-y tendencies, or this would be way more nerve-wracking.

Jeonghan glances at Hansol, grin widening as she looks back at Minghao and shakes his hand. “I’m Yoon Jeonghan, you probably knew that though.”

“Yeah, you shoved me into a locker when I was a freshman,” Minghao responds casually, lips still curving upwards. He peers past Jeonghan, smile widening when he sees Soonyoung.

“Hey,” he waves. Soonyoung waves back, shooting him her biggest smile. Jeonghan beams watching the younger’s eyes turn into happy crescents.

“Is spaghetti here?” Mingyu rolls around the corner on his longboard, hair unkempt as if he’s been running his hands through it.

“Yep. You good now?” Minghao asks.

“I mean, I’m still kinda traumatized, but–” Mingyu pauses for just a moment when his eyes land on Seungkwan, who’s mumbling to a giggling Jeonghan. Mingyu smiles, the look in his sparkling eyes almost dreamy, “Yeah, I’m good.”

“Okay..” Minghao laughs to himself, looking back at Hansol.

A door opens in the rows of apartments, and a tall person peers through tousled black bangs at them all. “Kushfest can start now, sorry you guys had to see that.”

“Hey, cute barista!” Hansol waves. Wonwoo blinks for a moment before they grin, waving back to her. “My favorite customer!”

“Am I being replaced?” Minghao teases Hansol, nudging her.

“Yeah, sorry, Wonwoo makes really good lattes.”

“I should’ve known,” he sighs, peering dramatically into the distance. “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.”

“Aw, no,” Hansol hugs Minghao around the neck, “I could never replace you, who else will I laugh at at the skate park?”

“Cheap shot! I’m _learning_!” Minghao tickles Hansol’s sides. She yelps in surprise, swatting at him until he stops.

“This isn’t how you repay someone who brought you spaghetti!” Hansol giggles.

“You know, you’re right, I’m _so_ sorry,” Minghao pinches Hansol’s side gently and she makes an unattractive squealing noise, batting his hand away.

“This is some hetero shit,” Wonwoo calls. By now, Seungcheol is looking out the door as well, her chin tucked into the taller’s shoulder. She must be on her tiptoes.

“The real question is, is it working?” Minghao bites on his lower lip for just a moment, cheeks pinking.

“I don’t have much experience in the hetero department but I think yes,” Hansol answers, trying to hide how big her smile is.

“Good,” Minghao murmurs, and when he takes the container of food Hansol holds out, their fingers touch.

“Well..I guess we’ll see each other. Remind me to return this,” Minghao gestures to the container, taking miniature steps backwards.

“Yeah..” Hansol clasps her hands together in front of her, scuffing the toes of her Vans on the ground.

“Gyu! Come on,” Minghao interrupts whatever Mingyu was talking about with Seungkwan.

“Oh, right. Uh, see you at school, I guess,” Mingyu beams at Seungkwan, who nods, waving to him as he walks towards Wonwoo’s apartment with Minghao.

“Bye! Thanks for the spaghetti!” Minghao waves one last time before disappearing into the apartment.

Hansol waits until they're gone to start jumping up and down, shaking out her limbs and releasing a giddy laugh, stopping just to cover her face with her hands, hiding the blush coloring her cheeks.

“Awww,” coos Jeonghan. “You remember what you asked me earlier? Because there’s your answer, he’s whipped for you.”

“Really?” Hansol peers through her fingers. Jeonghan scoffs, “ _Please_ , I know even you aren’t this dense, he wants to date the shit out of you. Let’s go home and rub all the gross young love in Josh’s face because he and Jun are like a middle aged married couple that complain about taxes and their hairlines receding.”

Soonyoung laughs aloud, and Hansol nods, still grinning as they walk back to the car.

 

  
“You’ve got a _cruuuuuush_ ,” Wonwoo shakes Minghao by his shoulders, shooting him the grin that crinkles their nose and puts all their perfect teeth on display.

“Okay, maybe a little bit,” he admits, flushing as red as a strawberry.

“A _little_ bit?” laughs Mingyu from the couch, where he’s sitting teaching Seungcheol how to roll a joint.

“Shut up, I saw how you were looking at Seungkwan!”

“You shut up!” Mingyu whines. “She’s nice.”

“You mean you aren’t gonna pine over me anymore? It made me feel special!” Wonwoo teases, much to Mingyu’s chagrin.

“You’re all so mean to me,” he gripes.

“We do it out of love,” Wonwoo makes their way over to the sofa, leaning down to press a chaste kiss on Mingyu’s cheek before sitting down beside Seungcheol. Mingyu blushes just a bit.

 

  
For the longest time, Minghao only knew Choi Hansol as the girl whose parents died. The girl who left classes crying, the girl that skipped lunch to find Joshua Hong and stay with him until the period ended, no matter what class he was in, because he was all she had left now.

Minghao isn’t sure why it took him until his senior year, his last year ever at their high school, to actually talk to Hansol. She isn’t just the girl whose parents died; she’s giggly, full of energy that Minghao loves trying to keep up with. Hansol is smart, despite what the C’s on her report cards say – after all, common sense can’t really be determined by one’s ability to remember complicated equations or periods in history the world wishes not to repeat. Despite how cringey it sounds, even in Minghao’s head, Hansol definitely is not like most girls; she’s just as great, breaking the monotony to instead turn it into a warm harmony.

Besides, Minghao digs a girl that can skate, mainly because he _can_ _fucking_ _not_. He really needs Hansol to teach him a proper kickflip. Minghao wonders vaguely if he should ask her on a date first.

 

 

  
“Oh my _fucking_ God.”

“Hey,” Junhui grins sheepishly from where he has Joshua pressed against the counter, a fresh red bruise showing brilliantly below his jaw thanks to Junhui’s mouth wandering.

“Junhui. This is my kitchen,” Hansol whacks him on the shoulder with the nearest object she can grab, which turns out to be a wooden spoon Joshua used to stir the spaghetti sauce.

“You just got tomato stains on my favorite shirt!” Junhui whines.

“It’s _black_! You just got gay stains on my little girl-loving corneas! How will I fix _that_?” Hansol protests. Joshua tips his head back, laughing so hard his stomach hurts. Junhui gapes at Hansol, clutching his heart.

“You! How are you laughing at this?” he then turns to Joshua, gently poking the other in the stomach. Josh lets out a high-pitched giggle, covering his tummy with his hands. “I’m sorry, I’m just laughing at _gay_ _stains_. That’s me. I’m a gay stain on life.”

“I worry about him,” Jeonghan mumbles from behind Hansol.

“Frankly, I disagree with that,” Junhui leans in to press a kiss to Joshua’s smiling lips, “but we’ll argue about it some other time, you need to sleep. The bags under your eyes could hold, like, all my childhood trauma.”

“Are they that bad?” Joshua fists his hands in Junhui’s shirt, pulling him down for another short kiss.

“Mhm,” Junhui nods, not bothering to pull away.

“This is gross. Do you want me to clean up dinner stuff?” Hansol interrupts.

“Yes please,” Joshua grins at her, all harmless and sparkly-eyed.

“Alright,” Hansol groans. “Seungkwan, help me.”

“Well, you guys have fun with that. Tell me how it goes with the boy,” Jeonghan kisses Hansol on the cheek, then Seungkwan. “You guys stay safe.”

Jeonghan then swats at Junhui until he steps out of the way so she can hug Joshua, mumbling, “Take care of yourself, Hong, I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah,” Joshua yawns, allowing Jeonghan to pinch his cheeks. She grins, ruffling his hair before turning to say goodbye to Junhui.

“Later, tall person,” Jeonghan gives him a one-armed hug, smirking as she ruffles Junhui’s hair, earning a protesting whine from him.

“Bye, guys,” Soonyoung waves, grinning as Jeonghan takes her other hand and they leave.

“I’m going to bed, I’m beat,” Joshua mumbles. “Night, guys. I love you,” he reminds Hansol and Seungkwan both as he follows Junhui towards the hall, to his bedroom.

“Love you too,” they respond in unison, already busy putting away leftovers.

 

 

  
Minghao doesn’t really know how to ask girls out. He’s always been the one getting asked out, and not by girls, for that matter.

“Dude, it’s not that hard. And, it’s _Hansol_ , you could throw something with ‘go on a date with me’ written on it at her and she’d be like ‘wow cool sure’. Just ask her out,” Seungkwan advises him at lunch one day. Mingyu makes puppy eyes at her from across the table.

“Ask who out?” Lee Seokmin asks, sitting down on Minghao’s other side. Seokmin’s a friend they don’t see much of outside of school, but he’s great all the same.

“No one,” answers Minghao at the same time as Seungkwan blurts, “Choi Hansol!”

“Stop!” Minghao whines. “What if she’s around?”

“She doesn’t have this lunch today, and besides, if she did hear, she’d just blush and giggle like an idiot,” Seungkwan laughs. “She’s _my_ best friend, I know her.”

Minghao groans, laying his head down on the table. “Guys, I like her so much, what do I _do_?”

“We’ve presented you with your options plenty of times. Ask her out, or don’t, and live out the rest of your life alone and sad,” Mingyu sips his milk, laughing when Minghao lifts his head to glare at the other.

“I mean, he’s not wrong,” Seungkwan chimes.

“Why are you guys ganging up on me?” Minghao whines.

“Because you’re acting all dramatic like this is a white extra-hetero teen romance movie, just get over yourself and ask her out!” Mingyu laughs.

“Fuck off! I’m working on it!” Minghao clenches his fist dramatically.

“Work on it faster!”

 

 

  
“You’re the worst! Stop laughing!” Minghao whines over Hansol’s hysteric giggling. His skateboard is rolling away slowly, and Minghao picks himself up from the ground, examining the scrapes on the heels of his hands from where he caught himself falling.

“How are you so bad at this?” Hansol wheezes.

“You’re so mean,” Minghao whines. “I’m _bleeding_.”

“Do you need a Band-Aid?” Hansol giggles, climbing out of the empty in-ground pool to walk over to her backpack, already withdrawing a box of Band-Aids.

“I need a few,” Minghao leans on the edge of the pool, examining his hands poutily.

“I’m always prepared,” Hansol jokes, walking back over to him and sitting down to carefully bandage the scrapes.

“Do you get hurt that often?” Minghao teases.

“Uh-huh,” Hansol nods, focusing on placing the Band-Aids properly. Minghao smiles up at her, leaning his chin on the sun-warmed ledge of the pool.

“You gotta be careful,” Minghao teases. Hansol glares at him playfully, “I’m not fragile, a few scrapes can’t stop me.”

“Can anything?”

“Nope. I’m unstoppable,” mumbles Hansol, balling up the Band-Aid wrappers and chucking them in the direction of the trashcan, announcing, “Buckets!”

The wrappers miss the can by a mile, and Hansol mumbles a “God dammit” before getting up to throw them away properly while Minghao laughs at her.

“I never said I was a baller,” Hansol chuckles, sitting back down at the edge of the pool in front of Minghao.

“It’s okay, I’m not a baller either,” Minghao grins. Hansol grins mischievously, retorting, “Not with those noodle arms you’ve got.”

“ _Hey_!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Hansol guffaws. “I had to.”

“You’re so mean. I’m swinging next time you roast me like this,” Minghao braces his hands on the ledge of the pool, hoisting himself up so he’s eye-level with Hansol. “But first I have a question.”

“Ask away, I might not know the answer though.”

“That’s cool. Do you..wanna go on a date? With me?” Minghao bites his lower lip as soon as he asks it, heat creeping up his neck to his face.

“Me?” Hansol widens her eyes.

“No, the _other_ girl here.”

“Shut up,” Hansol hits him on the shoulder, cheeks pinking. “Yeah. I do.”

“Really?” Minghao asks, unable to help the grin spreading across his face.

“Yeah, really,” Hansol sends him a returning smile that could replace the sun.

“Cool. Holy shit.”

 

 

  
So, Hansol’s been dating Minghao for about a year. It’s funny how that happens.

Currently, they’re making faces at each other as they slow dance with other people. Junhui decided two and a half years of dating was long enough to propose. Thankfully, Joshua agreed, so here they are. The venue they rented for the reception is small but nice, a little park complete with a gazebo.

“I miss my girlfriend,” Jeonghan whines, stepping on Hansol’s feet as they dance just to irritate the younger.

“She’s right over there with Seungkwan,” Hansol rolls her eyes. “Go get her if you really must, I miss my boyfriend anyways.”

“ _Boyfriend_. Gosh. Hansol? With a boyfriend? I never imagined,” Jeonghan teases as their swaying slows to a stop. “You guys are cute. Minghao’s a good kid.”

“I know he is,” Hansol responds, beaming before she and Jeonghan part.

“Hey,” Hansol nudges her way in between Minghao and Mingyu, wrapping her arms around the former’s middle.

“Hi,” Minghao abandons Mingyu almost immediately to wind his arms around Hansol’s shoulders, kissing her temple.

“Wow. Okay, I see how it is,” Mingyu mumbles. “Don’t worry about me, I have a girlfriend too, I’ll just dance with her, take _that_.”

He sticks his tongue out at them as he wanders over to Seungkwan, who’s now standing alone and watching Jeonghan and Soonyoung waltz clumsily, a plate of wedding cake in her hands. She smiles up at Mingyu upon noticing him, offering a bite of cake.

“We both know you’re just offering that to be nice,” Mingyu teases.

“Oh, totally. I’m about to _finesse_ this entire piece of cake.” Seungkwan laughs. About eight months ago, she finally left home for good, taking nothing but a bag of clothes, not even sparing a goodbye for her parents. She lives with a foster family now, kindhearted wives whose names are Bom and Sandara Park.

“You’re so cute, fuck,” Mingyu mumbles, leaning down and delicately turning Seungkwan’s face towards him for a kiss that leaves his lips tasting sweet like frosting.

 

  
“Did you really insist we sneak out of our own wedding reception so you could _nap_?” Junhui chuckles, loosening his bowtie all the same as Joshua collapses onto his bed.

“Yeah, I did. There’s too many people there.”

“There’s, like, twenty people total, and that’s including us.”

“Too many.”

“Fair enough, I guess. What if they wonder where we are?”

“I told Hansol we ditched, she’ll cover for us,” Joshua rolls onto his back, making grabby hands at Junhui.

“You both are the _worst_. Do you even realize how _the_ _worst_ you and Hansol are?” Junhui steps out of his shoes, leaning over Josh to untie the elder’s bowtie as well.

“Mhm. I love it.” Joshua sits up on his elbows, kissing Junhui on the lips for just a moment. When he pulls away, Junhui chases after his touch.

“I love you,” murmurs Junhui, crawling onto the bed as Joshua sits up to take his shoes off; he _has_ to untie them, Joshua’s not the type of person that can just pull their shoes of without untying them, because he isn’t an animal. (Junhui, on the other hand, is _exactly_ that type of person, and it makes Joshua cringe.)

“I love you too,” Joshua responds, crawling further up the bed until he can rest his head on Junhui’s chest, hand searching for Junhui’s. When their fingers interlock, their wedding bands click together gently, and Joshua grins.

Getting married at twenty-one wasn’t something Joshua saw coming, honestly. He was sure he’d never get married, but now he’s sure of growing old with Junhui.

Nothing’s wrong at all.

 


End file.
